Trouble Comes In Threes
by NickyM96
Summary: [Caskett/Spoilers: Scared To Death] Beckett faces a test she didn't study for and one she's not sure she wants to pass
1. Chapter 1

Title: Trouble Comes in Threes

Author: NickyM96

Rating: K+

Summary: Beckett faces a test she didn't study for and one she's not sure she wants to pass

Spoilers: Nothing big. You should be fine so long as you've seen Episode 5x17 – Scared To Death

Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own entertainment purpose and will return them for the next user when done.

Chapter 1

* * *

Kate Beckett walks down the long, dark corridor leading to the morgue. Her steps are light and lively and a smile graces her face, all signs that she's not there for official police business. She is curious, however, to know why her friend, and medical examiner, Lanie Parish called her.

"I'm here," she calls out when she enters the morgue. "What's up?"

"Castle with you?" Lanie asks.

"No. He didn't come with me to the precinct today," Beckett explains. "He had some writing to do, but he's picking me up later. Why?"

Beckett's curiosity gets the better of her when she sees a nervous looking Jenny Ryan across the room.

"Seriously, what's going on here?" Beckett asks, looking back and forth between the two women.

"Jenny has an experiment she needs our help on," Lanie says, an amused smirk on her face. "Why don't you explain it, Jenny."

"Okay, so you know how Kevin and I are trying for a baby," she starts, pausing when both Lanie and Beckett roll their eyes. "What?"

"Yeah, we know," Beckett laughs. "Ryan can't really keep a secret."

"Anyway," Jenny says, raising her voice to speak over the giggles. "These stupid home pregnancy tests are driving me crazy. I keep reading about false positives and false negatives. How do I know if it's too early? Or if the test is any good or accurate or reliable or …"

"Okay, we get the picture," Beckett interrupts her. "But, Lanie is the doctor. I don't really have a lot of experience with home pregnancy tests. So what am I here for?"

"You're here to be a part of the experiment." Jenny steps aside to reveal the table behind her filled with rows of home pregnancy tests. "I went to the store and bought some of the more popular tests. I bought one of each test for each of us."

"Why would I take a home pregnancy test? I'm not pregnant," Beckett says slowly, as if explaining to a small child.

"Of course," Jenny giggles nervously. "That's why I want to you take the same tests I take. That way, I'll have a basis for which ones are more accurate."

Beckett gives Lanie a confused look and opens her mouth to speak, only to be cut off.

"Jenny, why don't you start first. There's a restroom through those doors," Lanie directs her. Once the woman is out of ear shot, she turns back to Beckett. "Let's just humor her. They've been trying for this baby for so long and she just needs something to do. I figured it would be harmless enough to just go with her on this."

"So we're just going to sit here all afternoon taking pregnancy test after pregnancy test until she gets the results she wants?"

"Why not?" Lanie shrugs. "Besides, I think these tests are going to give her the results she's looking for."

"And you know this …. how?"

"I just have a sense about these things," Lanie teases before getting a look from Beckett.

"Okay, it's like you said. I'm a doctor. So I ran a blood test on her. Came back positive," Lanie smiles.

"Aww," Beckett coos, a huge smile growing on her face. "They're having a baby!"

"Shhhh! I told her the blood tests would take a few more hours than they really did. She's so excited about this big home pregnancy test experiment, I didn't want to burst her bubble. And us being the good friends that we are, we're going along with it. So stop with all the faces and go pee on the sticks."

"You're ridiculous," Beckett laughs, but takes her own batch of tests into the restroom.

"We'll see who's laughing after this, Detective," Lanie mutters to herself. She has a feeling her friend will be getting a surprise of her own.

* * *

Beckett watches Jenny pace nervously around the lab and wonders why Lanie just won't put the woman out her misery.

"Lanie," Beckett whispers. "Can't we just tell her. She's starting to drive me crazy."

"Relax, good things come to those who wait. We want to make sure all the tests have time to be done."

Beckett looks around at the three separate tables holding the three separate batches of tests, one belonging to Jenny, one for Beckett and one for Lanie. Each table is covered with a cloth to keep the results a secret.

Finally the bell rings on the timer and Jenny runs across the room to her table.

"What did we agree on?" Lanie calls out to her, stopping her from lifting the cloth. "I'll reveal the results."

Lanie slowly walks to the tables, trying to draw out the suspense.

"I'll start with Test 1 for all of us. This was the cheap one you bought three for a dollar from the vendor on the corner. No surprise that they're all negative," Lanie says, pulling revealing all three test indicators.

"Oh," Jenny sighs dejectedly.

"Don't worry," Beckett tries to soothe her. "Did you really expect that one to work?"

"Next text … all positive," Lanie reveals, a furrow in her brow at the results. "Hmm, these tests probably aren't very accurate, either."

"But, that's one positive for me. I'll take it, even if it is just a false positive." Jenny leaps up to take the indicator.

"What about the other tests?" Beckett asks when Lanie remains quiet, still staring at the rest of the hidden results.

"This doesn't make any sense," she mutters, more to herself than to the other two women in the room.

"What doesn't make any sense?" Jenny asks, worry creeping into her voice. "They're negative, aren't they? I'm not pregnant."

"No," Lanie says, causing Jenny to slump in her seat.

"No," Lanie corrects herself quickly. "I meant no they're not negative. They're positive. Jenny, I have 6 tests here saying you're pregnant. Congratulations, Sweetie."

"Really?" Jenny screeches, tears flowing down her face. "They're all positive? I'm pregnant?"

Jenny runs to the tables and pulls all the covers off, eager to see the proof for herself. She gathers up all her tests when she stops suddenly.

"Huh, they're all positive."

"That's what Lanie says," Beckett smiles, thinking the woman is just so flustered she can hardly think straight.

"No, they're _all_ positive. All of them. Even yours and Lanie's," Jenny explains. "Oh no. Don't tell me they're all defective."

A cold pit suddenly fills Beckett's gut. How could they all be positive?

_'They have to be defective,'_ Beckett thinks to herself, not wanting to voice that opinion out loud and risk disappointing Jenny. She looks to Lanie, who's looking just as perplexed as she is.

"Let me check your blood test," Lanie manages to say, still staring in shock at the table full of positive pregnancy tests. "Those results should be ready by now."

_'How can they all be positive?__'_ Beckett repeats to herself. It's the only thought in her head. She can't seem to wrap her mind around what appears to be happening.

"So I really am pregnant," Jenny sighs after getting the blood test results. She hugs Lanie tightly. "Thank you so much for this. I'm going to go tell Kevin right now."

She practically skips out the room leaving two shell shocked women in her wake.

"Lanie ..."

"Let's just do a blood test before we assume anything," Lanie interrupts her. "No need borrowing trouble."

She moves to prepare all the tools needed to draw blood.

"You knew, didn't you?" Beckett asks her. "That's what this silly experiment was all about."

"There's been something different with you the past few days, so yes. I suspected with you," Lanie confesses. "But not me. There has to be a mistake."

"I doubt there's a mistake," she sighs in resignation, cringing when the syringe enters her arm. "All of Jenny's tests were positive and she's pregnant. All of ours were positive too, Lanie."

They endure the long wait in silence, only breaking that silence when the proof can no longer be denied. Lanie hands Beckett her test results and watches the blood drain from the woman's face when she reads them.

"So, what are you going to do?" Lanie curiously asks her control freak of a friend. Getting side swiped by this kind of news can't be easy for her.

"What am I going to do?" Beckett asks angrily. "I'm going to _kill_ Castle."


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Trouble Comes in Threes

Author: NickyM96

Rating: K+

Summary: Beckett faces a test she didn't study for and one she's not sure she wants to pass

Spoilers: Nothing big. You should be fine so long as you've seen Episode 5x17 – Scared To Death

Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own entertainment purpose and will return them for the next user when done.

Chapter 2

* * *

Beckett storms into the precinct, fire in her veins and murder in her eyes.

"Beckett! Did you hear the news?" Ryan calls out to her. "Jenny and I did it! We're having a baby."

She ignores everyone else around her. Her eyes travel the room until they land on her target.

"With me, now!" she growls at Castle, pulling him into an empty conference room.

She pushes him inside and slams the door on the curious faces of her co-workers.

"Beckett?" Castle asks, confused at her anger. He flips through his mental file to see if he did anything particularly heinous that morning to piss her off. But even when he leaves the toilet seat up or drops globs of toothpaste in the sink, she's never been this angry. "What's the matter, Sweetheart?"

"Don't 'sweetheart' me," she says, poking him in the chest with her finger. "How could you do this to me?"

"Okay, you're starting to scare me now. What's going on with you? What's happened?"

"This," she yells, as she slams the paper with the test results against his chest. "This has happened to me. And it's all … your …. fault."

Castle grabs the paper before it falls to the floor and starts to read.

"Looks like blood work of some kind. Beckett, are you sick?"

The panic and worry in his voice almost sweeps away the anger she's feeling … almost. But she remembers her predicament and the anger returns.

"No, Castle. I'm not sick. I'm ..."

"Pregnant," he says with a gasp once he gets to that section of the test results. A broad, dazed smile spreads across his face. "You're pregnant? You're going to have our baby?"

"I'm pregnant," she says through clenched teeth. "How could you let this happen?"

"Wait, what? You're upset about this? And you're blaming me?" he asks, incredulous.

"Do I look happy?"

"You look …. the opposite of happy, actually," he decides after a moment.

She growls again, causing him to jump back a little.

"Okay, so obviously this is a shock and not exactly what you were expecting."

"You think?" she asks sarcastically. "No, Castle. This is not at all what I was expecting. This is the very last thing I was expecting."

Her face is starting to turn an unhealthy shade of red, so he looks around for a place to let her sit. He takes her hand and leads her to the couch, getting her settled there before finding a bottle of water for her.

"Let's just calm down," he suggests, rubbing her back gently while she guzzles the water.

She allows herself to take comfort from the soothing back rub before she realizes what he's doing.

"Oh no, you don't. Touching me like that is how we got into this mess in the first place," she snipes at him, sliding down to the other end of the couch.

"No, if I recall, you and your little ice trick is what likely got us into this … mess," he snipes back, causing her to blush in remembrance. Perhaps things got a tad out of hand that night and neither of them were as careful as they should have been.

"And for the record," Castle continues. "This situation is not a 'mess.' It's a baby. _Our_ baby."

"Castle," she sighs hopelessly. "I can't be pregnant. I just can't."

"But you are, Honey." He takes her hand and brings it to his lips, placing a light kiss there. "And I'm so happy. Ecstatic, even. Why aren't you?"

She just shakes her head as her eyes fill with tears. Not knowing what else to do, she falls into his arms and lets the sobs come.

He's not sure how long they sit there, but eventually her crying slows to just the sounds of her sniffling from time to time.

"You ready to talk about it?" he gently asks.

"I'm scared," she admits, sitting up and wiping her face dry.

"Of what?"

"Everything," she shrugs. "What do I know about being a mother, Castle? What will this mean for me? My job? Us? We just got together. And now this baby comes along? I didn't plan on this. Not yet."

"Did you ever plan on this? Having kids someday?"

"Someday."

"Okay, so it's not like you _don't_ want kids. You just didn't expect one now."

"That's a fair conclusion," she nods after a moment to think it over.

"Because I love you, Kate. And I love and want this child. But if you … I mean, this is your body, your choice. If you can't ..."

"No!" she quickly assures him. "No, it's not that at all. Castle, I'd never … the thought never even entered my mind to not have the baby."

"Okay. Good," he says, letting out a breath of relief that lasts only a second. "Is it me? I mean, do you not want kids with me?"

"Castle," she shakes her head, lifting her hand to his cheek. "Seeing you raise Alexis all these years is one of the things I've always loved about you. You are an amazing father. That is the least of my worries. But to be honest, I never thought that far ahead with us. I've been too busy enjoying what we have now."

"We are great," he teases, pulling her into his arms. "But we'll be better. We'll be a family. I'll be Dad and you'll be Mom and ..."

She stiffens and pulls away from him. He's confused for a second, but then realizes what she's reacting to.

"This is about your mother, isn't it?"

She stands and walks to the other side of the room, needing some space to herself. She folds her arms across her chest, almost as if to wrap herself in her own embrace. It breaks Castle's heart. Too long she's had to rely on herself for comfort and support. He can start proving to her now that he'll always be there for her. He'll let her know with his actions that she can't run away anymore, not from him.

He follows her and pulls her back into his arms.

"I'm here," he whispers. "I'm always here and I always will be. Don't shut me out. This is too important."

"I don't know how to do this," she confesses.

"You don't have to. You just have to try. Try to trust me. Try to lean on me. I swear I won't let you down."

She hesitates for another few moments before seeming to come to a decision. She takes a deep breath and turns into his arm, burying her face in his chest.

He is humbled. He knows what that action alone cost her. He can practically see the cracks forming in her emotional walls, weakening them, tearing them down.

"What if I can't be a mother? What if I don't know how? What if a part of me will never be able to get over my own mother being gone? Castle, how can you trust me with a child, with our child?"

He gazes lovingly down on her with a smile on his face.

"I can and will trust you with our child for the very same reason you trust me … Alexis."

He kisses the furrow in her brow before explaining.

"You've watched me raise Alexis, but I've done the same with you, Beckett. You have been as big a part of raising Alexis these past 4 years as I have been. You've been the one I've gone to for advice. You've been the one who's talked me down from some of my more neurotic fears concerning my daughter. When she's needed guidance, you're the one she's gone to. You even helped me take care of her when she was sick. You have been more of a mother to my child than anyone ever has. She admires you and looks up to you. But most importantly, she loves you.

"So trusting you with our child isn't even an issue with me, Beckett. Because I've already trusted you with Alexis. You have been a mother to her, even when you didn't realize it."

A small smile finally breaks through her sadness.

"So we can do this?" she asks, still slightly uncertain, but no longer terrified by the possibility.

He lets out a hearty laugh.

"The baby is on its way. We don't really have a choice," he reminds her, the amusement in his voice making her smile grow a little more sure and steady.

"I guess you're right about that."

She looks down and tentatively places a hand on her stomach. He reaches down and covers her hand with his own. The rest of the uncertainty falls away and she suddenly knows without a doubt that they're ready for this.

"I guess we're having a baby," she smiles, reaching up to kiss him. "Now let's get out of here and go celebrate. If you think my trick with the ice is good, wait until you see what I do with whipped cream."

His grin spreads. This is going to be an interesting nine months.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Trouble Comes in Threes

Author: NickyM96

Rating: K+

Summary: Beckett faces a test she didn't study for and one she's not sure she wants to pass

Spoilers: Nothing big. You should be fine so long as you've seen Episode 5x17 – Scared To Death

Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own entertainment purpose and will return them for the next user when done.

Chapter 3

* * *

Beckett and Castle exit from the break room is met with silence and curious stares from their waiting friends.

"You two all right in there?" Lanie asks, voicing the question on everyone's mind. They all heard most of the argument through the closed doors, but not enough to know exactly what was going on.

"We're fine," Beckett assures them with a smile. "It seems there's something in the water because ..."

She turns to look at Castle. He comes up next to her and takes her hand.

"We're having a baby too," he finishes.

Ryan and Esposito go to Castle and congratulate him. Lanie and Jenny pull Beckett aside for their own questions.

"So the tests were right? All of them?" Jenny asks, looking at both Lanie and Beckett.

"Apparently so," Beckett smiles. "At least for me. Lanie?"

"Just hush, Girl," Lanie swats at her. "You know I'm pregnant too. Javi is going to flip."

"When are you going to tell him?" Jenny wonders.

"No time like the present."

Lanie takes a deep breath and heads over to where the men are grouped. Jenny and Beckett follow close behind, not wanting to miss this announcement.

They hear mutterings of "two out of three" and "escaping the bullet" before the men quickly fall silent and turn to the ladies.

"Escaping the bullet?" Jenny asks, staring at Ryan. "What is this about a bullet you're trying to escape? You're not referring to our child, are you?"

"Uh … of course not, Honey," Ryan says, flustered. "Esposito was just ..."

"Nah, bro. Don't drag me into this," Esposito laughs, tossing an arm around Lanie's shoulders. "We're not the ones about to be elbow deep in diapers and baby food like the rest of you. Isn't that right, Baby?"

When Lanie grows silent, Castle is the first to pick up on the uncomfortable way she tries to squirm away from Esposito. He puts two and two together and an amused grin grows on his face.

"Why Dr. Parish. You're awfully quiet all of a sudden."

"Lanie?" Esposito asks, confusion filling his eyes as she stares at her.

"Diapers and baby food for us too," she says, pulling out one of the positive pregnancy tests from her purse.

Esposito takes one look at the pink stripe on the stick … and proceeds to pass out.

"Did he faint?" Ryan asks with a laugh. Castle laughs with him.

"Just help him up," Lanie barks at the men, directing them to take Esposito to the break room couch. They get him settled and leave him with the very angry woman trying to revive him.

"If he's smart, he'll stay "unconscious" until her temper cools a little," Castle chuckles.

"He's faking?" Jenny gasps a surprised gasp.

Castle, Ryan, and Beckett all just laugh.

* * *

Castle catches Beckett staring at herself in the mirror later that evening.

"Come with me to the doctor?" she asks him. "I made an appointment for next week. I need to find out how far along I am."

She stands in profile, pressing her hand against her stomach, frowning when she doesn't notice a difference.

"Of course," he says, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I told you, I'm going to be there for all of it."

"Even when we tell my dad how you got his baby girl in trouble?"

Castle's face turns serious. He turns away and walks to his night stand. She hears a drawer slide open and then close again.

"I don't think we'll be telling your dad that," he says, walking back over to her. "But I do think I'll ask him if he minds if I marry the mother of my child."

He opens the box he held in his hand to reveal a diamond ring.

She gasps, shock filling her eyes.

"Castle?"

"Marry me, Beckett."

"Is this because of the baby?" she asks. "Because you really don't have to propose to every woman you get pregnant, Castle."

"No," he says with a nervous laugh. "This isn't just because of the baby. I want to marry you because I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Plus, I have to cross off the number one item on my new bucket list."

He pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket and hands it to her.

Number 1 on this list: _Marry Kate_.

Her heart melts.

"Is this the list you wrote last week at breakfast?" she asks.

"I went out and bought the ring that afternoon," he admits.

She gives him a sly smile and goes into her own wallet.

"If you recall, we both revised our bucket lists that morning."

She hands him her own piece of paper and waits for him to get to her number one bucket list item.

"Let Castle be my one and done," he reads, tears clogging his throat. It fills his heart with joy to know her choice has nothing to do with the baby either.

"If you're still asking, the answer is yes." She holds out her left hand and sighs when he slides the ring on her finger.

"It's beautiful," she gasps, tears filling her eyes. "Just what I would have picked out."

Her reaches for her, pulling her into a kiss to celebrate the start of their new life.

"So, my soon to be wife," he mutters through kisses. "What was that thing you mentioned earlier about whipped cream?"

She lets out a happy giggle when his hand slips under her shirt. Leave it to Castle to remember that. She has a feeling this celebration is about to take a cold, sticky, sweet turn.

The end.


End file.
